Apple did the right thing with the iPhone throttling but it went about it the wrong way

By
Sahil Mohan GuptaDec. 22, 2017, 5:03 p.m.

The company has confirmed and said that it added this feature to maintain optimum performance

For years conspiracy theorists kept saying that Apple deliberately slowed down older iPhones with iOS updates in order to sell droves of new models. Apple kept denying and well there was little fact to prove otherwise, until a couple of days ago when two GeekBench scores of a three year old iPhone 6 revealed that Apple was throttling the speed of the processor as the battery of the iPhone degraded with age. The same phone when outfitted with a brand new battery had its processor performing at peak capacity.

In essence, this revelation made the day of thousands of conspiracy theorists and Android evangelists who’ve bashed Apple for its expensive products and cult like halo. Apple has also come out and confirmed this and said that it added this feature to maintain optimum performance and user experience for its iPhone users. It even said, the latest iOS 11.1.2 update adds this function to last years iPhone 7. As much as this may sound like a move of an evil corporation, the fact is that actually Apple did the right thing for its users. It just didn’t go about this the right way.

When the battery starts degrading, which happens over the course of a product’s life, its ability to transfer and retain current diminishes. This means the current flow can damage the device, overheat it, and well, make it even a bit of hazzard for the user. Apple uses some of the most powerful processors around which makes things even more complicated. Of course, the degradation of the battery life is dependent on a number of parameters — the environment the phone has been used in, how often it has been dropped which could cause potential abbersions in the battery itself and the way it has been charged through its lifecycle. And as the product gets older Apple introduced throttling to increase the life of the phone.

This was the right thing to do for the consumer. But what Apple did wrong was that it didn’t openly talk about this addition to iOS. Since the launch of iOS 11 particularly, users have been crying foul over the diminished fluency of the iOS experience on their older iPhones. This has been Apple’s core strength. It has been the reason why people stick with their iPhones for multiple years more than their Android phones. And now, suddenly the iPhone was coming a cropper within a year or so if we account last year’s iPhone 7.

More so many people thought there was something critically wrong with their phone and then just changed their device, instead of addressing the battery issue and getting it replaced. Apple should’ve also presented the user a choice whether they want to use a phone with a throtelled processor and not sugar coat a new update under the guise of new features.

If Apple openly spoke about this “feature” there would have been no controversy, and conspiracy theorists wouldn’t have had the field day they are having right now. Apple must understand it doesn’t only serve the first world, but because its brand is so aspirational that even people from the lower middle class save up for years and purchase an Apple product as a prized possession, almost like jewellery. These people can’t afford to get a new iPhone every year. And the least Apple could do is be transparent and say, “Hey, this is our new update, it has all these features and there is this one thing that can slow down some of the older phones with ageing batteries as it will increase the life of the device. In case, you don’t want it to slow down and enjoy all the new features of the update, please get your battery checked.”

About the Author

A fan of the iconic TV series Star Trek since childhood, Sahil Mohan Gupta, was pushed towards writing about technology because of impact of the TV show at a very young age. Sahil, who is known as Bones, in professional and social circles, has been writing about tech for more than 6 years. He has written about everything under the sun; ranging from smartphones, tablets, PCs, videos games, AI to pro audio, music, nightlife, sports and movies. Sahil has worked for some of the most prestigious media houses in India covering technology verticals and has also hosted consumer electronics shows on Indian national television. At PCMag India, he brings his ... See Full Bio